Ponden Hall
Ponden Hall is a farm house near Stanbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is famous for reputedly being the inspiration for Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Linton family, Edgar, Isabella, and Cathy in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. However, it does not match the description given in the novel and is closer in size and appearance to the farmhouse of Wuthering Heights itself.
The Brontё biographer Winifred Gerin believed that Ponden Hall was the original of Wildfell Hall, the old mansion, where protagonist of another Brontë novel Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Helen Graham fled from her husband.[1] Ponden shares certain architectural details with Wildfell: latticed windows, a central portico and date plaque above.
The "old house" was built in 1634 by Robert Heaton (1587–1641) for his son Michael Anno Domini Heaton (1609–1643). The "old porch and peat house" was later built by Michael's son Robert (1642–1704) and in 1801 the hall was re-built by his great grandson, Robert (1757–1817).[2] The old house was demolished in 1956.
In the early 19th century Ponden Hall held what was reputedly the largest private library in Yorkshire, which saw regular visits from Brontё children as they and the Heaton children would play together as well. There are two entwined withered pear trees on the property, said to be planted there by one of the boys, Robert as he longed for Emily's heart (was not meant to be as she was a little older). In the 19th century the Heaton family were textile manufacturers - particularly wool. With the death of Robert in 1898, the last surviving Heaton male, the Hall was sold. The final Heaton male; George Smith Heaton, the son of Micheal and Ellen Heaton of Royd House finally died penniless at the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum in Victoria, Australia, on 12 February 1901.
References
External links
- Reader's Guide to Wuthering Heights - Ponden Hall, Information on the house by the present owners
Coordinates: 53°49′48″N 2°00′56″W / 53.8301°N 2.0155°W